Deep Dive into Plastic Monomers, Additives, and Processing Aids
Open accessAbstract
A variety of chemical substances used in plastic production may be released throughout the entire life cycle of the plastic, posing risks to human health, the environment, and recycling systems. Only a limited number of these substances have been widely studied. We systematically investigate plastic monomers, additives, and processing aids on the global market based on a review of 63 industrial, scientific, and regulatory data sources. In total, we identify more than 10'000 relevant substances and categorize them based on substance types, use patterns, and hazard classifications wherever possible. Over 2'400 substances are identified as substances of potential concern as they meet one or more of the persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity criteria in the European Union. Many of these substances are hardly studied according to SciFinder (266 substances), are not adequately regulated in many parts of the world (1'327 substances), or are even approved for use in food-contact plastics in some jurisdictions (901 substances). Substantial information gaps exist in the public domain, particularly on substance properties and use patterns. To transition to a sustainable circular plastic economy that avoids the use of hazardous chemicals, concerted efforts by all stakeholders are needed, starting by increasing information accessibility.
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A large number of additives and monomers produced and traded in the global market have been identified as substances of potential concern for their toxicity based on European Union criteria.
“Yet, a large number of additives and monomers produced and traded in the global market have been identified as substances of potential concern for their toxicity based on the European Union criteria 48 .”
From Complexities of the global plastics supply chain revealed in a trade-linked material flow analysis (2025) · cites this paper as [48]
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Complexities of the global plastics supply chain revealed in a trade-linked material flow analysis
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BackgroundSenevirathne, G. I., Gimhani, T. D. M., Reay, M. K., Perera, C., Ariyaratna, M., Karunarathna, A. K., Chadwick, D. R., Jones, D. L., Emrah, C., Lloyd, C. E. M., et al. (2025) · Environmental Advances · doi:10.1016/j.envadv.2025.100628 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Wiesinger, H., Wang, Z., & Hellweg, S.
- Affiliations
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Wiesinger, Helene
- Wang, Zhanyun
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2021-06-22
- Volume
- 55
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 9339-9351
- ISSN
- 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5851
- OpenAlex
- W3176745748
- Cited by
- 724
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 155 · 2025: 178 · 2024: 152 · 2023: 112 · 2022: 101 · 2021: 26
- FWCI
- 4.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- public-domain
- creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (vor)
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) (acceptedVersion, public-domain)
- ETH Zürich Research Collection
- Funders
- Eidgen??ssische Technische Hochschule Z??rich
- Bundesamt f??r Umwelt (8T20/17.0103.PJ)
- Bundesamt f??r Gesundheit (18.000809)
- Canton of Zurich???s Office for Waste, Water, Energy and Air (85P-1454)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Polymers and Plastics › Polymer Science and PVC
- Keywords
- plastic monomers, polymer additives, processing aids, chemical hazard assessment, substances of concern, persistent bioaccumulative toxic substances, chemical regulation, food contact plastics, information gap, circular plastic economy, plastic life cycle, plastic recycling
- MeSH terms
- European Union, Humans, Plastics, Hazardous Substances, Recycling
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